POT SHOT: Most potholes like this one have been filled.George Martinez

Defying the brutal winter and its accompanying deluge of potholes, the city’s streets are now in the smoothest shape since 2005, according to the Transportation Department.

The agency categorized 72.3 percent of roadways here in good condition as of June 30, the end of the 2011 fiscal year. That’s up from 70.8 percent in 2010.

It’s also the highest percentage since 2005, when 73 percent of streets made the grade. Those in the pothole trenches greeted the news with deep skepticism.

Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for the Auto Club, conceded that complaints about the car-consuming craters are down drastically these days, when the greatest weather threat comes from the heat and not the snow: “Things are definitely better,” he said.

But Sinclair didn’t accept the city’s assessment that motorists have it better than any time since 2005.

“To say the best in six years, I don’t think so,” he said.

Transportation officials boast that they’ve filled a record 418,168 potholes on streets and highways, or 23,168 more than in 2010.